Blog Post #1 – Single Story Reaction
As a person, I am really just introverted on initial meetings. When I am around new people, I am quiet and reserved as I try to get a feel of my surroundings and the people in it. But the biggest thing that people always get wrong about me is that I am ignorant and disrespectful. Adults who know me as a person, know that I am anything but disrespectful. Everything I have accomplished in life people assume that I don’t try because of my laid back personality. But I work for everything I earned. I was my high school graduating class valedictorian, that there should speak about my work ethic. Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie states in her TED talk, “the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete.” This is so true because people in Jersey associate Paterson with crime and ignorance. Yes, Paterson has this but Paterson holds many opportunities for us to take advantage of. But because we’re so used to being stereotyped for not receiving high quality education or proper care and concern about our safety from adult figures, we look down on ourselves and just give up before we can even begin. To paraphrase what Adichie states, “but to insist on only these negative stories is to flatten my experience and to overlook the many stories that form me,” and that’s what people in Paterson do. Which is sad to say because I know a lot of people with the potential to do great things. But that’s the community I live in and I acknowledge that. So in return I take it upon myself to achieve their dreams for them. To show people in the world that the Paterson community can produce someone worthy enough to be seen as something more. But most importantly, I feel it’s my job to show people in Paterson that with the right opportunities and proper motivation,we can be something in life. Anyone living in the harsh conditions of Paterson has a chance in this world. Being born and raised as a African American male, that is what I feel is my place in the Paterson community.
Works Cited
“City of Paterson, New Jersey.” Paterson Vista Park / City of Paterson, New Jersey. Accessed
January 29, 2020. https://www.patersonnj.gov/department/division.php?structureid=125.
“Fatal Shooting on East 25th Street in Paterson NJ.” NJ. North Jersey Media Group, January 1,
1AD.
YouTube. YouTube. Accessed January 29, 2020.
